BLU-RAY MOVIE REVIEWS

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 2.5/5
Extras: 2/5 As the mourners and guests at a British country manor struggle valiantly to "keep a stiff upper lip,"" a dignified ceremony devolves into a hilarious, no-holds-barred debacle of misplaced cadavers, indecent exposure, and shocking family secrets.

Video: 4/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 3.5/5
This is one of those films that completely took me by surprise. I remember seeing one trailer for it in theaters and not thinking much of it but when I saw it available for import on HD DVD, I took the plunge. It had a good cast and I generally enjoy British comedies so I thought why not. Turns out this one is great. The comedy in this had my wife and me laughing nearly the entire film with some scenes bringing us to near tears. The whole film centers around a funeral and everything that can happen will. The cast is great here and every character brings something more to the already hilarious happenings. If you love a great comedy, this is not to be missed.

Video: 4.75/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 4/5 Welcome to the "Death Race", where hardened convicts and smoking-hot navigators race tricked-out cars in the most twisted spectator sport on Earth! Sentenced to the world's most dangerous prison for a murder he did not commit, Jensen Ames has only one chance to get out alive - win the ultimate race to the death.

Video: 4.75/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5An accountant is introduced to a mysterious, sex-dating club known as The List by his lawyer friend. He becomes enthralled in this new lifestyle, but he soon becomes the prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance and a multimillion-dollar heist.

Video: 5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5 "Defiance" is a riveting adventure that showcases the extraordinary true story of the Bielski brothers, simple farmers - outnumbered and outgunned - who turned a group of war refugees into powerful freedom fighters. Tuvia, along with his unyielding brother, Zus, motivate hundreds of civilians to join their ranks against the Nazi regime. Their "Inspirational story" is a true testament to the human spirit.

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 4/5 Vying for the title of "World's Greatest Villain", Gru - along with his hilarious crew of mischievous minions - plots to pull off the craziest crime of the century: steal the moon! But when Gru enlists the help of three little girls, they see something in him nobody else has ever seen: the perfect dad.

Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5 Trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia, five people discover that the Devil is among them – and no one can escape their fate. This chilling, supernatural thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way to a heart-stopping ending with a truly wicked twist.

Video: 4.25/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3/5 Although committed to carrying out his twisted brand of vigilante justice - Dexter begins to doubt his murderous capabilities and continues to be haunted by his tortured past. His difficulties multiply when evidence of his deadly after-hours activities begins to surface and the FBI is brought in to investigate the city's new serial killer dubbed the "Bay Harbor Butcher". Dexter can't pause for a breath as the noose tightens and the questions keep mounting. Will he be able to continue his serial-killing ways? Or will Dexter's dark past finally be uncovered.

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3/5 Dexter is a crime drama about Dexter Morgan, a man who leads a double life as an incredibly likeable forensics expert for the Miami Police Department and as an emotionless vigilante serial killer. Taught by his foster father to harness his lust for blood and killing, Dexter lives by his own strict moral code - he only kills murderers who can't otherwise be brought to justice. Dexter is a killer who grapples with fitting into society while, at the same time, he struggles with his inability to feel emotion. The irony of Dexter's life is that he works closely as a blood splatter analyst with the very people who hunt his kind - the homicide department.

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 2/5 Having faced some of his darkest demons, Dexter's ready to put the past behind him. Now, with family life, a day job catching killers and an uncontrollable urge to do away with the ones that get away, Dexter's got his work cut out for him. And when a high-profile case sides him with powerful Assistant DA Miguel Prado, the pressure might be too great for even our beloved Dexter to hack.

Video: 3.75/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 3.5/5 When his top-secret mission is sabotaged, James Bond finds himself captured by the enemy, abandoned by MI6 and stripped of his 00-license. Determined to get revenge, Bond goes head-to-head with a sultry spy, a frosty agent and a shadowy billionaire whose business is diamonds...but whose secret is a diabolical weapon that could bring the world to its knees!

Video: 5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: N/A
Last year video guru Joe Kane released the first High Definition test disc to the market with Digital Video Essentials. We'd seen this release before on the short lived D-Theater format but this time around the disc offered a more intuitive menu structure and offered two resolutions for test material. Problem was; it was limited to HD DVD only. This new version is available in both HD DVD and Blu-ray and is slightly scaled down. Some of the more advanced test patterns that are good for display evaluation are missing but most of the patterns for display setup are all there. The disc has both 1080p and 720p content making it very adaptable for the two most popular screen resolutions on the market today. This new disc also features more in-depth instructions on the materials and their benefit on display playback. The menu is still a bit cumbersome at times and I wish they would have allowed for storage of some favorites similar to what we see with some HD DVD and Blu-ray releases that have a bookmark function. All of the familiar demonstration material is here from the previous editions as well.